Thompson



(No Model.)

J. H. THOMPSON.

ROLLER SKATE. No. 322,504. I Patented July 21, 1885.

WITNESSES.

Miami/1.0L. P 6

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. THOMPSON, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TO THE GILLILAND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ROLLER-SKATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 322,564, dated July 21,1885.

Application filed April 4I 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H. THOMPSON, of the city of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ro1ler- Skates, of which the following is a specification.

My said invention consists in an improved construction of the mounting for the rolls of roller-skates, whereby said rolls, while permitted the usual rocking motion,are held comparatively rigid in their normal position. This construction consists in flat surfaces on the hangers and wheel-frames, which come together and are held in contact by a spring, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, andon which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a skate embodying my invention, one of the rollers being removed; Fig. 2, a rear elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a central section on the dotted line 3 3 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a sectional view looking toward the left from the dotted line 4 4 in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 a sectional view looking downwardly from the dotted line 5 5 in Fig. 3.

ln said drawings the portions marked A represent the foot-plate of the skate; B, the hangers; C, the wheel-frames; D, the pivotshafts; E, the springs, and F an arch-shaped spring extending from one wheel-frame to the other underneath the foot-plate.

The foot-plate A is of any ordinary or preferred form, and carries the hangers B,which are secured thereto in the ordinary and wellknown manner. Said hangers B have the ordinary bearings for the diagonally-set pivotshafts, and also have flattened surfaces, b, against which similar surfaces on the wheelframes rest, and other flattened surfaces b, which serve as a guide to the nuts by which the tension of the springs is regulated. The flattened surfaces 1) are preferably v shaped, as shown most plainly in Fig. 3, and the wheelframes are thus always guided back to their normal positions when acted upon by the force of the springs.

The wheel-frames C carry the wheels or rollers on shafts secured therein in the ordinary manner. The upwardly-extended portions, 0' 0*,have bearings for the diagonally-set pivotshafts, and the portions .0 have, in addition, flattened surfaces corresponding to the flattened surfaces 1) of the hangers, and which fit against and operate upon said flattened surfaces I), as shown.

The pivot-shafts D extend through the bearings in the hangers and wheelframes, and secure said wheel-frames to said hangers. They are screw-threaded for a portion of theirlength,

and carry nuts (I, which are prevented from turning thereon by the flattened surfaces 12 on the hangers, whereby the springs may be compressed, and the rigidity of the movement thus regulated by simply turning said pivot-shafts with a wrench or screw-driver.

The springs E surround the pivot-shafts,and are interposed bet'weenthe lower portions of 0 the hangers and the nuts (1, as shown, and thus tend to force the pivotshafts upwardly and hold the wheel-frames in close contact with the hangers, said pivot-shafts being provided on the outer ends with heads or nuts 01.

The flat or arched-spring F has holes in its ends, through which the pivot-shafts D pass,

and said ends thus serve as washers for the heads or nuts on the outer ends of said pivotshafts in addition to their function of re-en-- forcing or aiding the springs E in holding the A The operation is as follows: When the skate is in use, the skater in turning,as is well known, rocks or cants his foot. This operates to rock the wheelframes on the hangers, and the flattened surfaces on said hangers and frames, aided by their V-shaped formatiomoperate to draw the pivot-shafts endwise, compressing the springs. When the force of this movement is relaxed, the spring draws the wheel-frames hangers having back into their normal position, the /\-shaped surfaces thereon fitting back closely into the V-shaped surfaces on the hangers.

Having thus fully described my said invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1- The combination, in a roller-skate, of hangers having flattened surfaces, wheelfranies having corresponding flattened surfaces, pivot-shafts passing through hearings on said hangers and Wheel-frames, and thus secure them together, nuts on said pivot shafts, and springs interposed between said hangers and said nuts.

2. The combination, in a roller-skate, of

flattened surfaces, wheelframes having corresponding flattened surfaces, pivotshafts screw-threaded for a portion of their length, and carryingnuts which pass through and secure said hangers and wheel-frames together, springs inter-posed between said hangers and nuts, and stationary washers interposed between the outer heads or nuts of the pivot-shafts and said wheelframes.

3. The combination, in a rollerskate, of hangers B, having flattened surfaces 1) and b, wheel'fraines 0, having flattened surfaces corresponding to the surfaces b, pivotshafts I),

5. The combination in a roller-skate vof hangers having bearing-surfaces surrounding the pivot-shafts V-shaped in one direction, wl1eel-frames having corresponding surfaces, and springs, whereby said surfaces are held in contact.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 1st day of April, A. D. 1885.

JOHN H. THOMPSON. [L. s]

In presence of G. BRADFORD, CHARLES L. THURBER. 

